I’ve been a fan of Aaron Cheadle’s Fuzzruckus project for a long time, so it was with great interest that I learned of his latest project, Dragons & Astronauts. “Latest,” however, may be somewhat of a misnomer, as Dragons & Astronauts represents a musical reunion between Cheadle and his friend Josh. The two recorded under the name Greenstick Fracture about 20 years ago, and though many miles separate them geographically, they’ve gotten together again to write and record some new material…

Readers of this blog are probably familiar with your Fuzzruckus material. How is the music of Dragons & Astronauts different?

Fuzzruckus is my guitar playing, my songwriting and currently, my vocals. With Dragons & Astronauts, Josh is my songwriting partner, the lead vocalist, and he’s also a guitarist. I do backing vocals. We may have some songs in the future where I do lead vocals or we do co-lead vocals.  We each have our separate influences, but Josh and I have a lot of favorite bands in common as well – Third Eye Blind, Blink 182, Marvelous 3, Stroke 9, Nine Days  – we’re from that whole “number band” era.  Flickerstick, Bowling For Soup, Lit, and American Hi-Fi as well. Fuzzruckus is a little more Cheap Trick, and Dragons & Astronauts is a little more Third Eye Blind. The way our shared and differing styles mix always really tripped my trigger and I hope it does everyone else’s as well. Also the subject matter of a lot of the songs will be different. A little deeper than a lot of the Fuzzruckus heartbreak anthems and escapist fantasies. A term I like to use is “spiritually significant”. Josh is influenced by Relient K, and I’m a fan of The Rocket Summer. We’ve both been wanting to lean more in that direction, and we are doing that in Dragons & Astronauts. 

What inspired you to move on from Fuzzruckus? 

I’m very proud of what I’ve created and accomplished with Fuzzruckus. The music, the collaborations, the connections with other musicians. The relative success with the streaming numbers. I never would have thought I’d accomplish all I have when I started Fuzzruckus in March of 2021. It is emotionally exhausting sometimes though. The need to promote, to push, feeling like there needs to be a continual pleasing of algorithms to keep the level of success that has been reached.  I think it would be a healthy thing for me personally to take a break from Fuzzruckus and this is the right time for it. I have something else to focus on right now. 

Your EPK suggests that Dragons and Astronauts is a reincarnation of a former band. Is that right? Can you talk a little bit about that band?

Josh and I met and started making music together in 1999 in a band called Ambassador At Large. After that band played our last show in 2003,  Josh and I formed Greenstick Fracture. We recorded and released a demo cd and two full length albums. Heartbreak Anthems For The Feeling Impaired in 2004, and Break Up Notes, in 2005. This is right when streaming became a thing and we got a decent amount of plays on a site called Soundclick and of course – Myspace! My time in the band ended in late 2005. Josh and I briefly reunited in Summer 2006 .  I was out again, while Josh continued on with Greenstick Fracture for a few years. Later I became Fuzzruckus and he became a solo artist  Honestly, we both could probably write a book about GSF, but you said “can you talk a little bit about that band”.  I already talked a little more than a little. 

Is this the end of Fuzzruckus?

Like Tony Stark said “I am Iron Man” –  I am Fuzzruckus. A part of me will always be Fuzzruckus. This hiatus is meant to be indefinite, not permanent. Fuzzruckus will likely be back in some way at some point.  There should be a really fun cover that will be released sometime that I had a lot of fun with, to tide everyone over. For now I’m happy to be focusing on Dragons & Astronauts. 

I’m also curious about the dynamics within the band. How is writing, for example, different in the context of Dragons & Astronauts from writing in Fuzzruckus? 

For Fuzzruckus, I wrote everything. Every note, every lyric. Every melody. Every chord was a piece of my heart. With Dragons & Astronauts – we both are the songwriters. A lot of the material, I write the music and Josh writes the melody and lyrics. I like what Josh brings to the songs. He has always been really good at adding his own lyrics and melodies to the music I’ve written. I don’t write that way. I always come up with a lyrical idea and theme for a song and then fit the music around it. I enjoy seeing what Josh comes up with to add to my music. And like I said before, the lyrics and themes of the songs will be different than Fuzzruckus. 

And recording?

For Greenstick Fracture we always recorded together in person. But this is 2024 and I live in Dayton, Josh lives in Columbus. We both have jobs, we have wives. Josh has children, I have a dog. We each have home studios. It’s been really convenient to record our parts, send them back through e-mail and forth and put them back together again. All from the comfort of our own homes. A great thing about how we record now is that we have time to really work on the songs. Back in the GSF days, everything was written and recorded so quickly because we only had a certain amount of time to work on the music. I think some of the songs didn’t turn out exactly how they should have. Now we have the ability to write the songs how we really want them to be arranged and record them how we want them to sound. 

What does the band name Dragons & Astronauts mean to you?

Third Eye Blind is a major influence for us, always has been since day one. Josh and I saw them in 2000 on their Dragons & Astronauts tour. I always thought that would also be a cool name for a band. When this project started, I looked around Google to make sure no one else was calling their band that, I suggested it to Josh and he liked the idea. So here we are, Dragons & Astronauts. The name for the band Greenstick Fracture came from a 3EB song called “Danger”.  That’s what Dragons & Astronauts is – something new but with a deep connection to the past.

I’m thinking about how your EPK offers a clever nod to Star Wars on that the band name has a bit of a sci-fi bent as well. How does science-fiction fit into your music—and your life more broadly?

Other than the band name and imagery, it doesn’t really fit the music. We’re not “space rock” or anything. Although an album we both love is Flickerstick – Welcoming Home The Astronauts. So that’s a cool connection. In my life – as a kid I was into Star Trek and Star Wars. To the point I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. I wish I still had it – but there was a cassette tape recording my brothers and I made when I was probably 6 years old, and I said “Aaron Cheadle has been officially declared an astronaut!” And here I am, now in a much different way, but still nonetheless – an astronaut. I’m not really into a lot of sci-fi anymore other than the Marvel movies. I’m definitely a big fan of the Marvel cinematic universe, 

Your new single, “I Can’t Help Me,” came out on August 2. Can you talk a little bit about it?

In December 2003 we recorded the Greenstick Fracture – Heartbreak Anthems For The Feeling Impaired album. The first song I came up with, I had the music – which I borrowed heavily from three songs – Def Leppard “Photograph”, Marvelous 3 “You’re So Yesterday” and Blink 182 “All The Small Things”. The first night of recording, Josh came up with the idea and lyrics “I Can’t Help Me”. One of my ideas for songs for Dragons & Astronauts was to update this song. Josh wrote a lot of new lyrics. It turned out really good, and it felt really good to have created a song together again after so many years. To have this chance to release new music together for the first time since 2005 is really special. 

You also have a song on the Music that Changed My Life compilation from Audio Mirage Studios. What song did you choose, and how did it change your life?

We submitted our cover of Bowling For Soup – “Almost”. That song is significant to us in a few ways. Bowling For Soup is a common influence, it was co-written and produced by Butch Walker, a common huge influence. Also back in 2005 and 2006 we would play our acoustic version of the song at our open mic night appearances. So it’s a really significant song to me, as far as Josh and I making music together. And Josh and I making music together, beginning in 1999, definitely changed my life.

What are your plans for a follow-up? 

We have a second single ready to go in October. It will be released on an important anniversary for us, and I’d love to be able to tell the whole story here and now, but unfortunately, that will be a story for another time and place. There is definitely more music to come, and we hope everyone gives it a listen. Thank you Marc for giving us this opportunity to help spread the word for Dragons & Astronauts!